For some UNC students, graduation ends a long road filled with obstacles

Student Body President Tim Hernandez delivers his student farewell address during the University of Northern Colorado spring 2019 undergraduate commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 4, 2019, on the school’s campus in Greeley. (Louis Amestoy/lamestoy@greeleytribune.com)

Alondra Carranzo Arroyo’s graduation from the University of Northern Colorado on Saturday represents her life, so far, coming full circle.

She and her family moved from Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, to Kersey when she was 10 years old. Arroyo was “linguistically behind” compared to her peers, she said.

“When I moved here, I didn’t have a vision of what I wanted to do,” said Arroyo, 25. “I knew we were coming for a better life. My parents wanted to live here because there was more economic opportunity.”

She attended Aims Community College for a couple years to get her remedial classes out of the way before transferring to UNC. She was a recipient of the merit-based Stryker scholarship that helped shave off some tuition costs.

On Saturday she graduated with a double major in anthropology and Mexican-American Studies.

She’s returning for graduate school to study multilingual education with a focus on Spanish, which she has a “passion” for and plans to help students who are in the same situation as she was in Kersey.

Now that graduation is here, Arroyo said she is having “mixed feelings of surrealness.”

“For seven years, I’ve been in go-go-go mode,” Arroyo said the day before commencement. “I finally slowed down and submitted my last paper for undergraduate.”

About 1,400 undergraduates received their degrees during the spring commencement at Nottingham Field under sunny skies and a mild breeze. Among the graduates, 35 earned double majors, and they ranged from early 20s to 60 years old.

Thousands of families and friends filled the bleachers and grassy areas. Traffic snaked around campus as more and more parking spots filled up.

During her student farewell address, Jacqueline Ulfers outlined three character traits to embrace for success: Nervousness, gratitude and humanity.

Student Body President Tim Hernandez followed her with his own rousing, impassioned address.

“Last time I was on a stage like this I was participating in my eighth-grade continuation,” he told the stadium. “I never thought I’d hit another milestone like that.”

He talked about an eighth-grade teacher who told him he had no future. His father bought him a pair of dress shoes for his eighth-grade graduation that were too big for Hernandez. His father told him he’d grow into them eventually.

He did, and Hernandez wore those same shoes — now tattered and falling apart — to his college graduation.

University of Northern Colorado graduates mingle during the spring 2019 commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 4, 2019. (Louis Amestoy/lamestoy@greeleytribune.com)

UNC President Andy Feinstein during his welcome took what he said was “the first UNC commencement ceremony selfie” with the graduating class.

“I took chances that failed; I failed sometimes,” Werder said. “I’ve heard it said that doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will, and I believe that. I believed in me just as you should believe in you. Believe when nobody else does — especially when nobody else does.”

Josue Ivan Prieto-Miranda graduated Saturday with a degree in theatre arts and dance and an emphasis in acting. He has spent the past couple days in Los Angeles, where he plans to move to pursue TV and film, but came back to Greeley to participate in the commencement.

Prieto-Miranda, 23, had obstacles getting to that day. As a DREAMer and recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, he hit snags getting financial aid.

In UNC’s renowned theatre program, Prieto-Miranda participated in seven productions. He said it was “very, very demanding,” but has prepared him to enter the real world.